MLB probing agents' links to steroid distributor

By Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY

Major League Baseball is investigating whether four-time All-Star catcher Paul Lo Duca's relationship with steroid distributor Kirk Radomski was arranged by his former agents, three people with knowledge of the investigation told USA TODAY Sports. They spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the investigation.

By Howard Smith, US PRESSWIRE

Paul Lo Duca, who was in the Mitchell Report, retired after the 2008 season with the Mets.

Paul Lo Duca, who was in the Mitchell Report, retired after the 2008 season with the Mets.

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The people told USA TODAY Sports that Lo Duca alleges Seth and Sam Levinson, through their firm ACES Inc., introduced him to Radomski. Lo Duca also alleges a checking account was opened for Lo Duca to pay Radomski for steroids, human growth hormone, amphetamines and sexual-enhancement drugs, according to the people. The MLB probe is part of the investigation after the failed drug test and suspension of San Francisco Giants All-Star Melky Cabrera two weeks ago.

Lo Duca's relationship with Radomski, an ex-New York Mets clubhouse attendant, was chronicled in former senator George Mitchell's December 2007 report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. It included copies of three checks from Lo Duca to Radomski, each in the amount of $3,200.

USA TODAY Sports obtained a copy of one check, showing the names of Lo Duca and Samuel W. Levinson/CO ACES Inc. as joint account holders. The check, dated Aug. 7, 2004, shows the same address as the Levinsons' Brooklyn office.

In the Mitchell Report, Radomski said that each check was in payment for two kits of human growth hormone. Levinson's name, ACES Inc. and the account information do not appear in the report.

Seth Levinson vehemently denied having a relationship with Radomski when reached Tuesday by USA TODAY Sports. He declined to comment on his firm's name appearing on the check to Radomski.

The federal government, led by former BALCO investigator Jeff Novitzky, is working with MLB on a separate probe to determine the source of testosterone acquired by Cabrera, a client of ACES whose positive test resulted in a 50-game suspension.

"There is absolutely no truth to the allegation that either of us had any involvement in procuring performance-enhancing drugs for Melky Cabrera or any other baseball player," the Levinsons said in a statement last week issued by attorney Howard M. Shapiro, a criminal defense lawyer in Washington. "Nor did we have knowledge that anyone else was doing so."

MLB's probe is also focusing on Cabrera's Miami-based trainer, Cesar Paublini, a former Venezuelan bodybuilder, as reported by USA TODAY Sports, according to two people with direct knowledge of the investigation. Reached at his gym Tuesday, Paublini said he had not been contacted by MLB or federal investigators and had never met the Levinsons. Paublini did, however, say Cabrera introduced him once to Juan Carlos Nunez, an ACES employee who took responsibility for an elaborate scheme, including purchasing a website and advertising a fictitious product, all aimed to exonerate Cabrera.

Lo Duca, 40, was cited in the Mitchell Report for his connection with Radomski, who pleaded guilty to money laundering and distribution of steroids on April 27, 2007. Lo Duca, according to two of the people familiar with the investigation, says he never met Radomski face-to-face, but talked with him frequently on the phone, receiving advice on properly using the performance-enhancing drugs. The Mitchell Report also said that Lo Duca, whose final major league season was 2008, introduced several of his teammates to Radomski.

Major League Baseball also has contacted Radomski twice in the last two weeks, according to two of the people with direct knowledge of the case. MLB wants to question Radomski about his role with the Levinsons, and whether he was a paid consultant for the ACES firm.

Contributing: Rachel George in Miami and Kevin Johnson

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